In the lounge of Tilton Hall, there is a pay phone hanging inconspicuously in the downstairs lounge. But it seems unlikely in this day in age that anyone has used - or even noticed - this phone.
Whereas in the past cell phones were large, bulky and only used by a small fragment of the population, children in elementary school now walk around with their cell phones glued to their ears. So the question has become: What new technology will come next - and will students use it?
Some students said they don't see a need for fancy phone features: "My cell phone was free, and it doesn't have high tech features - except if you count text messaging," freshman Will Henchy said.
While students like Henchy are happy with their reasonably priced cell phones, there are expensive options for those students who choose to splurge. These options include everything from a full-color screen that can be rotated horizontally, to a high-megapixel camera that can take film-quality pictures, to an integrated mp3 player.
"I've played with those high-tech phones before," Henchy said. "They seem like something that would be fun, but only for like ten seconds, and then you realize that you spent $500 on a cell phone."
After the advent of the camera phone, television cell phones are now emerging as "the next big thing." While having a phone that doubles as a miniature TV might seem unnecessary to some, for those who study media and culture, television cell phones are not too surprising.
"What's interesting is that the introduction of mobile phones with television capability isn't a revolution - it's an extension of the role that television already plays in our lives," Assistant Professor of Sociology Sarah Sobieraj said.
"If television has a hallmark, it is its ubiquity," Sobieraj added. "Over 99 percent of American households have television sets, with an average of 2.25 sets per household."
"And even when we leave the house television, it's around us - it's in bars and restaurants, fitness centers, airports, doctor's offices, in class, and videos are now watched in an increasing number of cars," she continued. "So mobile phones represent the logical extension of this trend."
"I think they could become big for sports and things like that, but I can't see people watching TV shows on their phones," senior Maggie Lovett said. "Yet, phones have become a status thing, so people may get them just to say they can watch TV on their phones."
According to Sobieraj, the television cell phone could have any range of effects on consumer trends. Already, people have portable phones and mp3 players: One can walk around campus and see most students engaged in conversations on their cell phones or in their own worlds, protected by their iPod earpieces.
As well, students can already access the Internet from their cell phones- in fact, Tufts even offers SIS Online via cell phone to all of its students.
"In order to really evaluate the outcomes of this transition, we'll have to wait and see how this pans out," Sobieraj said. "Will [the TV phone], like the iPod, become a phenomenon that impacts personal consumption and the production process? Will it be slow to proliferate, like the video telephone? We'll have to wait and see."
According to Sobieraj, the potential phenomenon of television on a cell phone has repercussions for the production industry, too. Some cell phones already offer TV programming, such as MobiTV, but that service only provides access to pre-recorded downloads of television episodes on a few television channels.
"One of the things that will be interesting to watch is what content becomes available via telephone," Sobieraj said. "Which companies will have access to this new form of distribution and which will be left out? Will there be advertising?"
That could all change in 2006 with the introduction of a new service called Sprint Power Vision that will bring live broadcast television to cell phones through a partnership between Sprint Nextel Corporation and major cable providers. This new service will facilitate interactions between a person's home computer, landline phone and digital-video recorder.
But in order to use this service, a person will need a Sprint Power Vision plan and a phone capable of high-speed Internet connection as well as a subscription to Comcast Corporation, Time Warner Inc.'s cable company Cox Communications Inc. or Advance/Newhouse Communications.
